Mysterious Marches

Ruined Empire

After the Dawn War was finished and the Gods had retreated from the world, the nations they had crafted to make war on the Primordials struggled to continue. Without the common purpose of war and desperate struggle or the direct guidance of the Gods, the people left behind sought new enterprise and purpose. They followed as best the could the teachings left them, and sought to make use of the World that had been won on their behalf. In time, many great lands and kingdoms rose to power, jockeying for position as greatest and strongest land.

Soon, the nation of Bael Turath strove to seize dominance over the others by any means possible. The Turathi king and his advisers sought some special edge, some new way to defeat their competitors and claim ascendancy over the world. They made contact with the Exiles and the Primordials, with the First Ones both in the Far Realm and in the Underdark, all in the name of gaining special knowledge and power. They struck bargains with many strange and powerful creatures to gain advantage, and the sign of their bargains was soon stamped in their very natures. The Turathi people were gradually transformed into the race of tieflings by constant exposure to otherworldly powers. Bael Turath rose to greatness and began to conquer her neighbors. The dragonborn kingdom of Arkhosia fought bravely against Bael Turath, using faith and divine magic to counter as best they could the Turathi arcane pact magic. The war was terrible, nearly rivaling the Dawn War, and in the end, the Turathi Empire and the Kingdom of Arkhosia both broke and fragmented. Their remnants shattered and shattered again into hundreds of tiny warring states that flared and fought and failed one by one until it seemed the light of civilization would go out the World altogether. Bael Turath and Arkhosia together became known as the Ruined Empire, the last flicker of promise before savagery and barbarism overwhelmed everything. Countless secrets of arcane and divine lore were lost, wealth beyond counting was lost or hidden, and the people forgot their roots and origins save in dim legends.